Wicked vocal chord ailment doesn't stop Cinderella front man

Tom Keifer, front man for metal rockers, Cindella, still feels the effect of a debilitating vocal chord ailment that shelved his singing for three years. Keifer's solo recording is out in 2013.
Courtesy photo/Thomas Petillo

Gig to gig, tour to tour, recording to recording. Tom Keifer's voice was always there. Like a hunting dog that never left his side. Or a car that always started in the cold.

"I was able to sing night after night," Keifer said. "And never had a problem."

But, like a pitcher who never thought his fastball would vanish, Keifer took his growling, screaming vocals for granted.

"I was guilty of that," he said.

When you're the front man for Cinderella -- a hard rock band discovered by Jon Bon Jovi -- it's not a good thing

to do.

"I had no formal training on the voice. If I did five nights in a row or something, I'd maybe be a little hoarse," Keifer said. "I never thought of my voice not

being there."

What vocalist ever thinks their pipes will go south? It's like Einstein forgetting how to add. But, in 1991, it happened. Keifer's vocal chords were basically paralyzed from a virus. He could talk fine. But his voice couldn't hit certain

registers.

And Keifer's career went from hard rock to on the rocks.

"If someone who didn't sing got this, they may not even notice," he said. "It started a long trail of trying to find answers. It was pretty weird."

How bad was it?

"A doctor told me I would never sing again," Keifer said

His performing was shelved for three years "between trying to figure out what was wrong and going to different doctors."

Six surgeries later, Keifer finally found a vocal coach with some answers who taught him how to keep pressure off his chords. He retrained his voice.

And now, with Cinderella still touring, Keifer's out with a solo album and stopped into the Bay Area recently for some quick promotion work. And yes, again answering questions about his freak ailment.

"It's not my favorite subject," Keifer said. "It was a traumatic thing to go through. I still go through it every day."

Cinderella's toured three straight years and Keifer's maintained his acclaimed vocals.

"Each year I've felt stronger and stronger," he said.

No, Keifer said, he's not been tempted to tell the doctor off who said he would never sing again.

"I'm not like that," he said. "He was right, in retrospect, because the condition is devastating and there's no cure. There was a denial period. I still struggle to keep it in shape."

Keifer said that fans and band mates may be OK with his voice, he knows it's not as it was.

"Here I am almost 19 years and it's never been the same," he said. "I think about that almost

every day."

Still, he quickly added, "I'm better than I've ever been since the problem," he said. "It (the problem) still rears its ugly head, but I'm getting more consistent."

The psychological part of the illness "is huge," Keifer said. "It effects every part of your personality. It made me reclusive. I never wanted to play music or socialize. I was in serious depression

for years."

Keifer "went through a gamut of emotions. Still do. I'm getting better. There's a little more confidence walking up on stage."

The solo album -- still untitled -- has been a great experience, Keifer said.

"The idea was to make a record I was really proud of and do what I wanted to do," he said.

The recording started in 2003 and final master complete Spring, 2011. It's due for release in

early 2013.

"I thought it would be done in a year," he said, laughing that it took so long, three recording systems came and went via technology.

"It was fun to make in terms of creating it," said Keifer, writing some of the tunes in his Nashville home with his wife, Savanna.

It's always about the music,

he said.

"I didn't pick up a guitar when I was 8 because I wanted to be famous," Keifer said. "That was something that comes in the territory when music is accepted on a massive scale. I set out to be a real good musician. It felt good to pick up a guitar and play something well."

Never, said Keifer, will he take the fans for granted.

"If I'm able to talk to a fan or sign an autograph, I don't try to avoid it," he said. "I'm very grateful and aware of the fact they've fueled the life I've been able to have. "